Jayden Nelson had one thing on his mind when he scored in his outstanding Vancouver Whitecaps FC debut: “I’m here.”
The 22-year-old Canadian put in the week's top performance in Major League Soccer on Sunday, scoring a goal and three assists as the Whitecaps trounced their Cascadia Cup rivals, the 10-man Portland Timbers 4–1.
In the process, Nelson became the first Canadian to bag a goal and three assists for the Whitecaps since now FC Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies did so on June 9, 2018, against Orlando City SC.
“I’m happy for him and for us,” head coach Jesper Sørensen said, also having claimed his first MLS win as a manager. “[Nelson] has a good skill set, some things that he does really well, and then he has to have the work ethic to keep working to round off his play even more.”
After setting up goals for Ryan Gauld, Pedro Vite and Sam Adekugbe, Nelson dribbled past two defenders and added a marker of his own, stomping his feet and declaring his place in MLS before being subbed off at the hour mark.
“I'm here. It's as simple as that,” Nelson said post-match. “I didn't want to give expectations to the fans, and I wanted the [soccer] to do the talking, right? So yeah, I’m here.”
Still in his early 20s, Nelson’s Whitecaps era is his second MLS stint. He returns to the league after failing to make an impact with Toronto FC’s first team, where he played from 2020 to 2022 after graduating from the TFC Academy.
In 2022, he left TFC to test himself in the 2. Bundesliga and then moved to the Norwegian top-flight side Rosenborg before returning to North America this offseason.
